SynthesisJMIR mHealth and uHealth2022
Measurement Properties of Smartphone Approaches to Assess Physical Activity in Healthy Young People: Systematic Review.
Synthesis in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hawthorne Effect in Screening Ambulatory Activity Status Using Wearable Pedometers Varies Across Age Groups.AJPM focus · 2026Article
- The role of smartphone-based functional metrics in pain medicine.Interventional pain medicine · 2026Article
- Physical activity levels and self-perception among patients living with chronic conditions in France: A population-based cross-sectional study using the ComPaRe cohort.The European journal of general practice · 2025Article
- Psychometric Characteristics of Smartphone-Based Gait Analyses in Chronic Health Conditions: A Systematic Review.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Review
- Assessment of Step Tracker Mobile Applications for the Promotion of Physical Activity by Adolescents Based on Their Weight Status.International journal of telemedicine and applications · 2024Article
- Mandatory after-school use of step tracker apps improves physical activity, body composition and fitness of adolescents.Education and information technologies · 2023Article
- Decreased step count prior to the first visit for MDD treatment: a retrospective, observational, longitudinal cohort study of continuously measured walking activity obtained from smartphones.Frontiers in public health · 2023Observational
- Cost and statistical efficiency of posture assessment by inclinometry and observation, exemplified by paper mill work.PloS one · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
18 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPhysical inactivity is a preventable risk factor for several chronic diseases and one of the driving forces behind the growing global burden of disease. Recent evidence has shown that interventions using mobile smartphone apps can promote a significant increase in physical activity (PA) levels. However, the accuracy and reliability of using apps is unknown.
objectiveThe aim of our review was to determine the accuracy and reliability of using mobile apps to measure PA levels in young people. We conducted a systematic review guided by PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses).
methodsStudies published from 2007 to 2020 were sourced from 8 databases-Ovid MEDLINE, Embase (Elsevier), Cochrane Library (Wiley), PsychINFO (EBSCOhost), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Web of Science (Clarivate), SPORTDiscus (EBSCOhost), and IEEE Xplore Digital Library database. Studies were conducted in young people aged 10-24 years and without chronic illnesses, who evaluated a mobile app's ability to measure PA. Primary outcomes included validity, reliability, and responsiveness of the measurement approach. Duplicate screening was conducted for eligibility, data extraction, and assessing the risk of bias. Results were reported as a systematic review. The main physical activity measures evaluated for each study were the following: total PA time (min/day or min/week), total moderate to vigorous PA per week, daily step count, intensity measure (heart rate), and frequency measure (days per week).
resultsOf the 149 identified studies, 5 met the inclusion criteria (322 participants, 176 female; mean age 14, SD 3 years). A total of 3 studies measured criterion validity and compared PA measured via apps against PA measured via an Actigraph accelerometer. The 2 studies that reported on construct validity identified a significant difference between self-reported PA and the objective measure. Only 1 of the 5 apps examined was available to the public, and although this app was highly accepted by young people, the app recorded PA to be significantly different to participants' self-reported PA.
conclusionsOverall, few studies assess the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of mobile apps to measure PA in healthy young people, with studies typically only reporting on one measurement property. Of the 3 studies that measured validity, all concluded that mobile phones were acceptable and valid tools. More research is needed into the validity and reliability of smartphone apps to measure PA levels in this population as well as in populations with other characteristics, including other age groups and those with chronic diseases.
trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42019122242; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=122242.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.